Into the Deep End

In conversation with a friend of mine the other day, we discussed this deep longing we both had to be discipled by Christ, to walk in close intimacy with Him, to follow Him wholeheartedly. 

The next day, another dear friend sent me a message, saying she loved to see how I was "following hard after God," which blessed me immensely, because that's truly my heart's desire. "My soul follows hard after You; Your right hand upholds me" (Psalm 63:8). 

Ephesians 1:17 says: "I [Paul] keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better." In the margins of my Bible, I have written in smudged and fading ink: "SO THAT = What is my motive?"

Do I pray for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that I can impress people with how wise I am? So I can shock people with revelatory knowledge? No, please, Lord, let that never be the case! 

May we, all of us who follow hard after God... have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation... so that we can know Him better. So that we can follow Him wholeheartedly.

Not with a partial heart. Not with one foot in the water and one foot on the shore. Let's dive off the deep end. All of us.

I've talked about this before, but this is one of my favorite discoveries of Peter the disciple's exuberance (I'm getting to Joshua, I promise; just hang on). In John 13, Jesus is in the upper room with His disciples. Timing-wise, it's just before His arrest and the long night leading up to His crucifixion. He's eaten with His disciples; now He's taken a towel, wrapped it around His waist, and is going around the room with a basin of water, washing His disciples' feet. 

It's possible His disciples had truly dirty feet, but more likely Jesus is teaching them a lesson of servant leadership through this. How are we to serve one another? How are we to truly debase ourselves in order to lift each other up? 

Wow. That's a hard word, if you think about it. Can we see, anywhere present in today's church, this same attitude? Maybe. But you might have to dig a bit to find it... And the thing is, we should be known for this! Later on in this very same chapter, Jesus tells the roomful of disciples: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).

Minor sidetrack. Back to Jesus, placing the pan by Peter's feet and reaching for his ankle. Peter draws back. "No! You shall never wash my feet!" he cries. Not because he hates people touching his feet. Not because his feet don't need it. But it disturbs him to see the Man Who Peter has come to realize is the Son of God doing such a menial task, serving him, serving Peter. 

Jesus looks up into Peter's face. His voice is gentle as he blows right past Peter's hesitations. "Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me."

Peter runs right out onto that diving board and hurtles into the deep end as hard and fast as he can. "Then Lord! Not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well!"

May we all have the heart of Peter. All of me! Take all of me, Lord! May we follow hard after You! May we follow You wholeheartedly!

Okay, now let's head over to Joshua. I read Joshua 13 yesterday, but the Lord led me somewhere else on the blog, so today, I continued on with Joshua 14. Both chapters record the distribution of conquered territory after the Israelites have defeated the people who lived in Canaan. Two and a half Israelite tribes settle on the east side of the Jordan River, and nine and a half tribes settle on the western side. These two chapters detail the apportionment.

Here, once again, we meet Caleb, son of Jephunneh. For a brief overview of Caleb's story, he and Joshua, son of Nun, along with ten other men, spy out Canaan in accordance with Moses' instructions when they first draw near. When the twelve spies return to Moses, they bring reports of a good land overflowing with rich resources... along with strong cities and giants (Anakites) who live in them. 

And ten of the spies say: "They're too scary. Let's go back to Egypt."

After those same ten spies cross through the Red Sea on dry ground and watch the entire Egyptian army drown because of the Lord -- they say: "They're too scary. Let's go back to Egypt.

After those same ten spies eat manna every day -- literally bread from heaven... after they watch water pour from a rock -- twice -- after they look at a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole and are immediately healed, after they daily follow a pillar of cloud in the sunlight and a pillar of fire at night.. they say: "They're too scary. Let's go back to Egypt."

How quickly we forget the all-surpassing power and jaw-dropping wonder of the Lord when we let our fears blind us.

Anyway, Caleb and Joshua are different. Caleb and Joshua say: "No! We can take them, because the Lord is with us!"

They're overruled. Two against ten. And God is so angry at the lack of faith, that He turns His people right around and tells them to wander in the desert for forty more years until every last one of them, twenty years and older... is dead. 

Except for Joshua and Caleb.

In Deuteronomy 1:35-36, the Lord says: "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly."

Now, back to Joshua 14, and that distribution of conquered territory. This is now forty-five years past the moment when the ten spies refused to believe that God would fight their battle for them. Forty-five years! 

Do you think Caleb ever thought: I wonder if God's forgotten?

Forty-five years is a long time. Full disclosure: I'm forty-one. So Caleb waited longer than the entire span of my life... to hear from the Lord again about this promise he'd been given.

Granted, he wasn't sitting around and twiddling his thumbs. He was marching with the Israelites, fighting in their battles, living and working and participating. When things settled a bit, when the circumstances opened up... Caleb approached Joshua and asked about the promise the Lord had given him.

Initiative. Caleb showed courage when he stepped forward and said: Lord, do You remember?

It's not like God had forgotten, or that Caleb elbowed Him and He woke up. But there was this relationship there where the child speaks to the Parent, where the servant approaches the Master, and the Master is pleased to grant the request. Why?

Here's the reason: "Then Joshua blessed Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly" (Joshua 14:13-14).

Look at what Caleb was known for. In Deuteronomy 1, Caleb is contrasted with the ten doubting spies. He stands out from the Lord's anger, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly. In Joshua 14, Caleb stands out from his peers as they receive their own inheritances, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.

Not just my feet, Lord, but my hands and my head as well! He put his hand to the plow, and did not look back. Not even once. He waited forty-five years, and then he boldly went before the Lord and claimed the promise the Lord had given him forty-five years previously. 

He jumped into the deep end and didn't hesitate on the diving board. May I be so wholehearted. May we each follow so hard after God.